My favorite hockey player and former UMD Bulldog, Brett Hull.

So it would seem like a snowball's chance in hell that I would end up living in a hockey crazed town shooting dozens of games a year and slowly, but surely figuring out why everyone is so crazy about this sport. I'll admit it's hard for me to really get into any sport that I can't directly participate in. I don't know how to skate and the next closest thing that I can get involved in, Broomball, isn't quite the same. Despite all this, I've been keenly watching this year's University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team. They started the season on a tear earning the top ranking in D1 college hockey back in November before fading a bit in the second half, but they got hot at the right time.

After dispatching Union 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs faced top seed Yale for a spot in the Frozen Four and outgunned the lesser Bulldogs 5-3 to advance to their first Frozen Four since the 2003-04 season. Not since the 1983-84 season have the Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA finals and that is the only time in school history they've done that. I'm sure UMD fans haven't forgotten that game either. The Bulldogs lost a 5-4 decision in four overtimes to Bowling Green. Ouch.

This year UMD will face Michigan in the finals. Winners of nine NCAA hockey championships, the Wolverines will be looking to push that number to double digits. However, UMD will be looking to bring home their first ever NCAA hockey championship. If that happens, in this city obsessed with hockey, it would truly be a momentous occasion. Think rioting in Detroit after the Pistons won their NBA title, but instead replace the fire with Mojakka and people starting the fires with Duluthians singing "We Didn't Start the Fire..." Ok so there is not going to be any rioting here, but if they can repeat a performance like the one illustrated in the photos below, Duluth is going to be a happy place for quite some time.

UMD goaltender Kenny Reiter (right) and Wade Bergman (left) watch a puck Reiter deflected sail over the head of Notre Dame's David Gerths Thursday evening during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

UMD goaltender Kenny Reiter deflects a Notre Dame shot Thursday afternoon in the NCAA semifinals at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

UMD players line up during the playing of the national anthem before their NCAA semifinal game against Notre Dame.

UMD students Matt Morris (left) and Andy Fondrick (right) cheer on the Bulldogs during introductions before the start of their NCAA semifinal hockey game against Notre Dame Thursday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Fondrick is a freshman at UMD while Morris is a junior.

UMD's Kenny Reiter watches Notre Dame players celebrate after they scored a first period goal Thursday evening during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

UMD's Justin Fontaine (right) couldn't get his shot past Notre Dame goaltender Mike Johnson (2nd from right) Thursday evening during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. UMD's Jack Connolly (2nd from left) couldn't put the rebound in while being defended by Notre Dame's Stephen Johns (left, 28).

UMD goaltender Kenny Reiter looks around during a break in action.

UMD's Kyle Schmidt (right) celebrates his first period goal in front of Notre Dame's Kevin Lind (center, 25) and goaltender Mike Johnson (25) Thursday evening during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Schmidt's goal tied the score at 2-2.

UMD's Kyle Schmidt (left, 7) celebrates his goal with teammates Thursday afternoon during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

UMD goaltender Kenny Reiter (left) blocks a shot from Notre Dame's Ben Ryan (2nd from left) while being defended by Justin Faulk (25) and J.T. Brown (right, 23) Thursday evening during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

UMD's Kenny Reiter was beat by Notre Dame's Calle Ridderwall in the third period to cut the score to 4-3 in favor of UMD.

UMD's Trent Palm (right) battles Notre Dame's Nick Larson (left) for the puck Thursday afternoon during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

UMD players celebrate with Mike Connolly (center) after his first period goal put the Bulldogs up 3-2 over Notre Dame Thursday afternoon during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

UMD's Brady Lamb (bottom) and Notre Dame's Riley Sheahan (top) got tangled up on the ice during their NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

UMD's Kyle Schmidt (top, 7) and J.T. Brown (bottom, 23) pursue Notre Dame's Riley Sheahan (middle, 4) Thursday evening during an NCAA semifinal hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

LEFT: UMD's J.T. Brown celebrates his first period goal against Notre Dame during an NCAA semifinal hockey game Thursday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. RIGHT: UMD's Jack Connolly (left) celebrates his second period goal with teammate Justin Fontaine (right) to put UMD up 4-2.

UMD's Justin Faulk (right) kept the puck away from goaltender Kenny Reiter (left) and from Notre Dame's Nick Larson (center, on ice) during an NCAA semifinal hockey game Thursday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

TOP: A UMD fan reacts after the Bulldogs went up 4-2 against Notre Dame. BOTTOM: A UMD fan reacts after Notre Dame cut the lead to 4-3 shortly into the third period.

UMD players Justin Fontaine (37), Kenny Reiter (35) and Mike Connolly (22) celebrate their 4-3 victory NCAA semifinal victory over Notre Dame with team manager Dale Haagenson Thursday evening at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Hermantown advanced to the Class A title game after a dramatic, almost miraculous, victory over Mahtomedi.  In the finals, the Hawks went up 1-0 in the first period while defending state champion Breck School tied the game in the second period.  Heading into the final period, the score was tied at one apiece and Breck was getting handled in a way that was unfamiliar.  A photographer in press row before the game responded when asked something about the game that "oh this final is Breck and the school that will get destroyed by Breck."  The private school from the cities had thoroughly dominated their opponents all season scoring 206 goals in 28 games while racking up a 26-2 record.

However, the Hawks were the ones dominating play in this game.  Breck was able to keep the game even thanks to a great effort by goaltender John Russell who finished the game with 30 saves.  With 1:40 to go in the game, Breck scored to go up 2-1 and the game ended that way.  Hermantown players and fans were dejected after coming so close, but falling just short.

One of the cool things about this state tournament is the camaraderie between fans and teams.  Warroad played Mahtomedi--the team Hermantown defeated in the semifinals--in the third place game and won in double overtime.  Hermantown fans were there early and started cheering wildly for Warroad.  I think part of it was due to the fact that after a Mahtomedi player scored to put his team up 6-4 against the Hawks, he slowly skated by the Hermantown student section with his finger up to a mouth in a gesture to be quiet, which served only to enrage the Hawks' student section and solidify their support for Warroad in the third place game.  During the third period of the finals, the entire Warroad hockey team was welcomed into the middle of the Hermantown student section.  It was cool to watch Hermantown fans welcome these players from a town 256 miles away and join them as they both cheered against Breck in the finals.

I'm off to the NCAA wrestling tournament in Omaha, Nebraska so I will have some photos from that early next week along with my review of the best of the wursts at the Xcel Energy Center.  Now here are some photos from those finals...

Hermantown met Mahtomedi in a Class A state semifinal game.  I was covering Hermantown for the Duluth News Tribune.  The game started off with Mahtomedi scoring first, but Hermantown answered back with a goal of their own.  The first period ended 2-2 and the second period ended with the score tied at three apiece.  This is where things got interesting.

The teams traded goals to open up the third period before Mahtomedi answered with two straight goals to make it 6-4 with under nine minutes to go.  This is where Hermantown's Charlie Comnick comes in.  Comnick scored two straight goals in less than two minutes to complete the hat trick with all three goals coming in the third period.  Think that's good?  It gets better.  As the second were ticking down, a Mahtomedi player fired a shot at Hawks goalie Tyler Ampe and it went into the net.  The impression of the puck on the back of the net and the buzzer seemed to happen in unison and Mahtomedi began celebrating their victory by throwing their sticks, hats, gloves and more in the air as they formed a huge dogpile on the ice.  However, instant replay showed that the puck was in the crease, but had not crossed the line so it was ruled no goal.  With the velocity of that shot in the final second and its position in the crease, a matter of 0.1 seconds would have made all the difference between the Hawks playing at Mariucci Arena on Saturday or playing in overtime.

As luck would have it, Hermantown scored just a couple minutes into overtime to win 7-6 and the celebration was on.  I'm pretty excited to be covering a finals game this year with a local team in the mix.  So here are some photos from today's exciting game...

The best game in terms of entertainment value yesterday might have been the Apple Valley-Blaine game in the afternoon. Apple Valley came in as the underdog and their goalie flat out dominated the entire game making a number of head-scratching saves and shutting out Blaine to advance to tonight's semifinal. The late game with Duluth East and Hill-Murray was also entertaining except East gave up four goals--two in the closing minutes of the first period and two more in the opening minute of the second period, which put the game out of reach as they fell 5-3 after going up 2-0 early on.

And it looks like I'll be back here another day as Hermantown defeated Mahtomedi in one of the most entertaining hockey games I've ever seen. Lots of images to come from that one, but I need to go rest and take a break. Check out the photos below!

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The first was a showdown between two northern Minnesota teams in Hermantown and Virginia/Mt. Iron-Buhl.  The two had met earlier this year with the Hawks of Hermantown coming out on top 4-2 over the Blue Devils of VMIB.  Hermantown dominated the first period and went into the first break up 1-0, but VMIB rallied back in the second to make it a 1-1 game heading into the final period.  It's critical junctures like these when you hope your best players make themselves known.  Hermantown's senior captain, Mr. Hockey finalist and University of Minnesota Duluth recruit Adam Krause scored early in the third period to put the Hawks on top for good.  They would go onto win 2-1 and will face Mahtomedi Friday morning.

The second game I covered pitted top-ranked Breck School against New Ulm.  It was competitive for the first couple minutes and then it turned all Breck.  The first period ended with the Mustangs of Breck up 2-0 over the Eagles of New Ulm.  The second period opened up with a quick goal by Breck and another one a few minutes later before things went really bad really quick for New Ulm.  Breck scored five times in less than two minutes to put the game out of reach and open up a 9-0 lead.  That's how the second period ended and Breck would go on to win 11-1.

The two games were such a contrast.  One was high intensity action down to the last second while the other saw the game get out of hand before it was even halfway over.  As a photographer, it's hard to shoot those games that are so one-sided because the players start to reflect the score in their emotions.  When Breck players put together their five goals in two minutes, they showed little emotion after scoring a goal.  Not good for pictures.  Each goal the rest of the way was like this.  Things that kept me going was thinking if this keeps up, this could be some type of state record.  I looked around and didn't see any other photographers shooting so I figured I'd be in prime position to capture something unique should a historical blowout be reached.  That never happened, but I did see New Ulm finally get on the scoreboard and that brought out a fair amount of emotion/relief from the team.

Well enough about the games and me... this is a photo blog after all.  I'll be back tomorrow with more photos as well as a review on the various hot dogs at the tournament.